Jamaica’s Cameron Brown on the Rise
2016 marked an extraordinary year as Jamaica’s swimmers rewrote the National Record Books more than 30 times in the Long Course 50-meter distance. 14 days into the new year, and already Cameron Brown of Azura Florida Aquatics in Miami is making an impact.
Brown became the first 13-14 age group Jamaican male swimmer to make the 100 meter Breaststroke event in under 1 minute 10 seconds. On the first day of the two day Gulliver Senior Invitational on Saturday, January 14, Cameron won the Bronze in the Breaststroke event with a time of 1:09.93. He held the old National standard of 1:10.01 which he set at the 2016 Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) in Nassau, Bahamas when he also won Bronze in the Boys’ 13-14 Age Group.
In speaking about his record breaking feat Cameron said, “Being in the final heat (9 of 9) of the Boys’ 100 Breaststroke was great. I was up for the challenge and my aim really was to lower the 13-14 Boys’ National record of 1:10.01 which I set at CISC 2016. I had a great start, and my first 50 was fast. The next 50 was challenging but I kept pushing, I didn’t even realize I was in the 3rd spot until I checked the board at the end of the race. Felt good that I actually medaled too.”
Coach Marco Bellardi described Cameron’s race and work ethic by reiterating his amazing reaction time coming off of the block and he “really worked the last 15 meters into the finish. Cameron was very focused behind the blocks before the start of the race. He is a hard worker in the practices and he is very clear on his goals.”
The improvement Cameron has made over the last year is clearly seen in the comparison of his times at this meet and his times from January of 2016. Brown is a sure fit for when the team heads to CARIFTA in The Bahamas in April and Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation in Trinidad and Tobago in July.
